"Russian Rule in Samarkand" uses a comparative approach to examine the structures, personnel, and ideologies of Russian imperialism in Turkestan, taking Samarkand and the surrounding region as a case-study. The creation of a colonial administration in Central Asia presented Russia with similar problems to those faced by the British in India, but different approaches to governance meant that the two regimes often stood in stark contrast to one another, although there were certain points of resemblance.

Opening with the background to the political situation in Central Asia before 1865 and a narrative of Russian conquest itself, the book moves on to analyse official attitudes to Islam and to pre-colonial elites, and the earliest attempts to establish a functioning system of revenue collection. Uncovering the religious and ethnic composition of the military bureaucracy, and the social background, education and training of its personnel, Alexander Morrison assesses the competence of these officers vis-à-vis their Anglo-Indian counterparts. Subsequent chapters look at the role of the so-called "native administration" in governing the countryside and collecting taxes, the attempt to administer the complex systems of irrigation leading from the Zarafshan and Syr-Darya, and the nature and functions of the Islamic judiciary under colonial rule.

Based on extensive archival research in Uzbekistan, Russia, India, and containing much rare source material translated from Russian, "Russian Rule in Samarkand" will be of interest to those working on the history of Central Asia, the Russian Empire, and European Imperialism more generally.

A list of errata, higher-resolution copies of the maps from the book, and the Russian text of the sources quoted will be available at the following url: